Friday, February 15. 2008
The Jimmy Bruno Quartet in April, 2007. "Loverman" (forgive his promotionals - it's good marketing):
"Voting with their feet." Willisms, whence the image, is always on this story. 
Large birds of prey lay their eggs early. A nest at Blackwater Refuge in Maryland already has two eggs. The Live Eagle Cam is here. A friend of a friend took this photo of eaglets in the Adirondacks two springs ago: 
Evil is like a shadow—it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it. Shakti Gawain (h/t, Flares)
 Photo: Artist's image of the new Gerald Ford Class.
George Mason has a new first year Law course, and it looks like good fun. Should a Catholic university host a Clinton campaign event? Bainbridge Govt benefits for seniors: Now up to $27,000/yr average Dick Morris (who is frequently wrong) Why Hillary can't win Eloquent and full of it: Clinton on Obama What's good for the goose: Exxon vs. Chavez (h/t, Gateway) Munger for Governor. I'd vote for that guy. Are Americans ignorant? NYT A reporter writes a ranting screed against amateur journalism Does global warming cause ice in Antarctica? CSM. I am getting the message that it causes everything. Double super secret backward reverse psychology. The history of the Evil Eye. h/t, Jonah Youth Courage Awards. It's not your grandpa's courage award. Did you already read Henninger's take on Obama's basic negativity and pessimism? Does stare decisis apply to Constitutional rights? How could it? Rush on Rush. Althouse. Why do the Brits hate free speech? Roger Bill Quick wants a political party which entirely agrees with him. Doesn't everybody? GM on GW, quoted in full from Insty: DON'T MINCE WORDS, BOB: GM Vice Chairman Calls Global Warming A "Total Crock of S**t". So what's with the Chevy Volt? And all that fuel-cell stuff? UPDATE: Varifrank explains that it's the power of the market: "He doesn't care why you want zero emission cars, he just wants you to buy them from him. He's not making cars for you and your sense of well being. He's making them so the shareholders of General Motors can make a profit. If there's a profit in it, he would make cars that run on hamster pellets." But I thought consumers were at the mercy of the big auto companies, who just sold us whatever they wanted, without caring what we think -- isn't that why the proliferation of SUVs is all their fault?
From The presidential race at the cusp, by A Jacksonian: ...the Party that promised so much to its Conservatives is in the hard bind of having had control of Congress for over a decade and simultaneous control of the Executive for 8 of those years and accomplishing none of the goals it had set out to do in 1994 and, before that, with Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election. Welfare reform was only garnered by waging a public campaign to restrict it and demonstrate valid reason for it that appealed to a broad spectrum of Americans... and it was accomplished with a Democratic President. Since then the Party has broken its agreement to work for those things it set out to do, leaving it, now, with much of its pre-Reagan base of a 45-55% John McCain.
Quote from No Looking Back: A baseball bat kept in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to bludgeon a family member or acquaintance than it is to be used in a game of baseball.
I read it on the internet.
Thursday, February 14. 2008
Thanks, Cuz
"Can't you hear that rooster crowin'?
Rabbit runnin' down across the road
Underneath the bridge where the water flowed through
So happy just to see you smile
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you.
Can't you hear that motor turnin'?
Automobile comin' into style
Comin' down the road for a country mile or two
So happy just to see you smile
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you.
The night passed away so quickly
It always does when you're with me.
Can't you feel that sun a-shinin'?
Groundhog runnin' by the country stream
This must be the day that all of my dreams come true
So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you.
So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you.
New morning . . ." This Valentine's Day marks the third anniversary of our weekly Dylan lyrics, which began in earnest with "Forever Young" back on February 14, 2005. How time has flown. Today we offer "New Morning," off Bob's comeback album of the same name from 1970.
A quote from Wesentier in TNR's Washington Diarist on Obama's apparent conciliationist foreign policy ideas: There are autonomous countries and cultures out there. The turbulence that I have described is not caused by misunderstandings. It is caused by the interests of powers and the beliefs of peoples. Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, Pyongyang, Islamabad, Gaza City, Khartoum, Caracas - does Obama really believe that he has something to propose to these ruthless regimes that they have not already considered? Does he plan to move them, to organize them, to show them change they can believe in? With what trick of empathy, what euphoria, does he hope to join the Shia, the Sunni, and the Kurds in Iraq? Yes, he made a "muscular" speech in Chicago last spring; but I have been pondering his remarks about foreign policy in the ensuing campaign and I do not detect the hardness I seek, the disabused tone that the present world warrants. My problem is not with "day one": nobody is perfectly prepared for the White House, though the memory of Bill Clinton's "learning curve" is still vivid, which in Bosnia and Rwanda cost more than a million lives. My problem is that Obama's declarations in matters of foreign policy and national security have a certain homeopathic quality. He seems averse to the hurtful, expensive, traditional, unedifying stuff.
But hey, it's about "hope," right?
Didn't you just know this would happen?
Playing this instrument looks like sign language. This gal can play the Theremin, at David Thompson.
 We already posted a Valentine's Day piece, but one more won't hurt.
Fairy-tale romances in the WSJ Want an office romance? Sign the contract first. Marriage: It's only going to get worse. (h/t, Dr. Sanity) Need testosterone? Go shooting. Is settling for Mr. Good Enough really Good Enough? Dr. Helen Marriage pros and cons. Kim Proposed on Imus today, a new book: "What Did I Do Now? A Men's Guide to Menopause." And, finally, Bird Dog's 5-cent marriage advice: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
 We'd like to show a little solidarity - hence the cartoon today.
Things are looking up. First Jim Wright, and now Gene Nichol. Instant Historical Revisionism. Like Vietnam. The First Amendment, Volokh's update. h/t, Viking. My question for the court is this: Why isn't it equally reasonable to protect the category of "obnoxious jerks"? They surely are an oppressed minority. Speaking of jerks, What is wrong with Paul Krugman? "Mommy, where are my legs?" From Venus or from Uranus? Good rant from No Pasaran Rules are quides, not constrictions. Sonnets, at neoneoneoneo Sowell on Who is fascist? Berkeley backs down. When the delivery of Thorazine to their water supply is delayed, anything can happen. They are feeling better, now. Still nuts, but a bit more reasonable. Why the Clintons are failing: Chickens coming home to roost. As we have said, nobody ever liked them or trusted - they were just afraid of them because they knew there was nothing they would not do. Related: MoDo tries to bury Hillary. For real, or satire? Interesting politico-climate blog we found: Icecap. Meanwhile, apparently globalistical warmening has baked Nessie. The sorcerer. Vanderleun No No No No No. Not Lindsay Graham. How about Condi? Scientist says the sun causes warming: Baliunas said concerns for world energy poverty should be more significant than worrying about something 100 years from now. "I'm all for saving energy resources and eradicating energy poverty around the world," she said. "One can be concerned by the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and come to it from the philosophical idea of caution. We just don't want to take the chance; still we can take a view of precaution." She also said civilizations have always looked for the cause of climate changes. In 16th and 17th century Europe, thousands were executed for what was called "weather cooking," where religious and political institutions blamed witches - mostly women - for poor growing periods or storms.
Wednesday, February 13. 2008
 I'm weary of everybody finding fascism in the unlikeliest of places. I'm tired of finding little cookie duster moustaches photoshopped onto politicians that remind me of church wardens, not mail-fisted strongmen. I'm worn out from the endless denouement of every discussion on every topic, no matter how mundane, being a reference to that weird Austrian corporal. It's a looming Weimar you're all not recognizing, not the next Fuhrer. Everybody's oblivious to the cobbling together of a miserable tottering spineless Byzantium, because they want to spot Mehmed in every passerby,when they should be fixing the chinks in the walls and looking to the horizon. I said I was weary of it, and just look at the picture I offered. I apologize. It's not the Hitlerjugend I read about yesterday. It seemed to me Weimar being remade, not the Third Reich. Lord knows what will come after this Weimar falls. Or perhaps, Lord, peace be upon him is more to the point.
Continue reading "Re Fascism: Can You Pull The Dirt In After You? Thanks."
Many unusual Dylan links at Grow a Brain.
Interesting computer problem today. Every indication of a hard drive failure. Replaced hard drive after a quick run to Staples ($189.). Same problem after reloading drive from external drive. Computer expert thinks it must be a motherboard problem. Then he says "Hmm, I've never seen a BIOS problem in 20 years but let's try asking BIOS to heal itself, just for the heck of it." Instantly repaired. "Holy f-," says he. "This is a first for me: BIOS never fails."
A propos of Theo’s clip on gun confiscation vs. gun crime, I looked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics site (www.abs.gov.au/ausstats) to see what changes there have been in reported firearms crimes since the 1996 ban on firearms ownership. The data is relatively buried, with different data sets on different pages in different years, but I was able to find the following data (percentage of crimes using firearms): Percent of Australian Crimes using a Firearm 1995 2006 Kidnapping/abduction 2.8% 5.0% Murder 17.8% 16.5% Attempted murder 26.7% 25.3% The gun confiscation certainly cannot be said to have materially changed the incidence of gun-related crime, although the use of a gun as a threat seems to have doubled the small kidnapping/abduction rate. The Right shouts that gun crime is up, and it is some years, but it is down other years. At best, the gun ban can be said to be irrelevant. Left shouts that they “feel safer”, although they clearly are not; however, they do not do well with statistics. Inasmuch as Australia is entirely surrounded by ocean, the perpetual complaint that Mr. Bloomberg makes – that New York’s ban doesn’t work only because criminals can buy easy guns in the South – is clearly shown by the Australian experience to be false. Furthermore, in New York City all firearms must be registered, but there is an exception: because it is illegal for a convicted felon to own a gun, it has been (correctly) held to be unconstitutional to require a convicted felon to registered his guns, as it would be self-incrimination!
I think this might be a fake website, alas: Felonspy. I found some bad guys I did not know about, but none of my friends. If it were genuine, some of my pals would show up there, for sure. They do not guarantee accuracy - read the disclaimer.
This story of Sinatra begins like this: Frank Sinatra, the greatest vocalist in the history of American music, elevated popular song to an art. He was a dominant power in the entertainment industries—radio, records, movies, gambling—and a symbol of the Mafia’s reach into American public life. More profoundly than any figure excepting perhaps Elvis Presley, Sinatra changed the style and popular culture of the American Century.
Read the whole thing at The Atlantic while listening to one of his masterpieces below (music, no video):
I refer to Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, which I have just finished. It ain't littercher, but it's an absorbing read. He is a master storyteller and permits no let-up of tension. It's in the historical fiction genre, set during the Civil War of 1139-1153. That war of succession was prompted, you may recall, by the foundering of the White Ship with William, the only legitimate son of Henry l, on board. The book does a good job of putting you in a time and place. The gravitational center of the book is the building of cathedrals during the time when pointed arches and ribbed ceilings were first used, and when it was realized that pillars could support the weight of the buildings without relying on thick walls, thus permitting large windows. Has mankind ever built anything to match the grace and artistry and grandeur of a gothic cathedral? 
As I was reading the book, I kept wishing I could find our copy of David Macaulay's Cathedral. It's here somewhere...
A piece in The Nation instructs teachers in how to slip "Social Justice Education" into everything they teach. It's sick out there, and getting sicker.
 Many are posting these photos of the Che posters which hang in Obama HQs.
I am not alarmed, because these people have no idea what a murderous, raping, hate-filled, sociopathic thug Guevara was. To the youth and the ignorant, he is a romantic figure and little more. In truth, he was about as romantic as Robespierre. They don't know because nobody told them. Meanwhile, for Moonbats who know nothing, the peoples' paradise of Cuba remains a shining beacon. As Dr. Bliss notes, "beliefs often trump facts" in human beings.
 People are moving all over the US. Why? WSJ
Holland terrified of angry Moslems. Culturally castrated. Related: The Wikipedia Jihad The brightest people tend to be heaviest drinkers. Does that mean I should up my consumption? Mayor Bloomberg: We're all going to die from global warming! I'm afraid he might actually believe it. Pelosi "leaning towards Obama." I'd bet that hurts, over at Hillary HQ. Also, do you care? Inside the Clinton staff shake-up. Hillary still refuses to release her tax returns. (Can't find the link.) What news story does she wish to prevent? Classical Values takes Bill Clinton seriously when he raises this idiotic issue, but I don't think Clinton means it. I think he is being cutely manipulative and dishonest. One reason Obama should not be elected Pres: A Sunday School view of international affairs. Our adversaries and enemies did not attend Sunday School, Barry. Yesterday's primaries: Isn't it clear yet that people neither like nor trust Hillary? It doesn't matter what she says. They just don't like the cut of her jib, as we say. Dems seem relieved to have an alternative. When Clinton supporters like Rendell spout stuff like this, they are making a mistake with this race-baiting: it's clearly their wishful thinking that people would vote against a black guy. Pollsters care a lot about gender, race, etc etc, but voters don't seem to care: Obama wins the white male Dem votes, proving to me that nobody cares about race anymore - except the race pimps, and the pollsters who keep sticking it in our faces. As Drudge reports this morning: In the Chesapeake Rout, according to exit polls in Maryland, Obama won:
Latino Voters By Six Points: 53-47
All Religions (Including Catholics)
All Age Groups (Including Seniors)
All Regions
All Education Levels
And Women by TWENTY ONE POINTS...
Cartoon on loan from Siggie's
Yesterday's snowy evening in Yankeeland. We love our snowfalls. 
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